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4.30.2014

Disney Project - The Reluctant Dragon

The next movie in my Disney Project (background here) is The Reluctant Dragon, which is part live action documentary and part animated story.

As the film states in the very beginning, this film was made in response to all the requests Walt Disney was getting for a behind the scenes look at how their cartoons are made. Basically, you follow this bumbling buffoon around the Walt Disney Studios; as he is trying to find Walt Disney, to pitch him a story idea, he basically goes through all the various departments within the studios (story boards, paint, sound effects, musics, etc) showing you how a cartoon gets made. There are a few short cartoons along the way, but it all leads up to the maybe 15 minute long cartoon, The Reluctant Dragon at the end.

I remember this cartoon from my childhood, so it was fun to see again. The documentary part of the movie had its moments, but got a little long. I mostly liked seeing the glimpses of them working on Dumbo and Bambi throughout. For the little ones, I'd recommend skipping the documentary portion and just watching The Reluctant Dragon cartoon at the end.